Derrick Rose has made it clear that he intends to produce at an MVP level this season, but he’s off to a bit of a rough start. In total, Rose’s numbers against the Thunder were nice: 28 points, six assists, four rebounds, and only two turnovers. That’s enough to get Rose into the discussion, if not merit a place as a serious contender for the award. But take in Rose’s full stat line and his season opening performance becomes markedly less impressive; it took Rose 31 shots (!) to get to that 28-point mark, and he connected on just 38.7% of those 31 attempts. Oomf. Rose’s performance takes a huge fall on the basis of efficiency, and though he was able to keep his turnovers down, it’s not exactly kosher for him to be taking that many shots, particularly when he’s hitting so few of them.

One of the biggest detriments to Rose’s efficiency was the impressive number of long jumpers he managed to chuck. Rose is actually a pretty sturdy shooter from mid-range, but he took 12 attempts from 16+ feet from the basket, and made just two of them. He fell in love with the long two-pointer, and while I don’t necessarily doubt Rose’s ability to hit that shot, it’s a flat-out waste for a player with his speed, handle, and creativity to be suckered into those attempts on the regular.

If Rose sticks to this prescription, he’s no MVP candidate. Even if he drops 28 a night with six assists. Volume can be impressive on first glance, but efficiency is what endures. Great players are often marked by their discretion, and last night’s D-Rose wasn’t all that great.

Russell Westbrook was, though. Rose and Westbrook will likely always be linked by their position and some nostalgic commitment to draft classes (Rose was selected No. 1 overall in the 2008 draft, Westbrook at No. 4), but the two were entirely different in approach last night. Rose doesn’t have a teammate like Kevin Durant to work off of, but Westbrook managed some of his most impressive sequences on his own. Westbrook isn’t coasting in KD’s wake. He’s as vital to OKC’s success as Durant, and together they’re powering the damn thing. If the Thunder make it to 50 wins again, Durant will be soaking up an unfathomable amount of sunshine. But Westbrook, camped out in partial shade, deserves his due.

Last night, Westbrook only matched Rose’s 28 and six. He only threw in 10 rebounds for good measure (is there any question that Russell is Jason Kidd’s heir apparent as the top-rebounding point guard in the league?). He only did it all on a 15 shots and 53.3% shooting. No big deal, just truly MVP-worthy numbers from a guy who hasn’t made a peep about the award and likely won’t even be mentioned in MVP chatter all year, save as a Durant footnote. But last night, Westbrook blew “MVP candidate” Derrick Rose out of the water, and it wasn’t even close. Compare the tape (I haven’t even mentioned Westbrook’s defense, which is very much superior to Rose’s), compare the highlights, compare the box scores, compare the final verdict — by almost every conceivable measure Westbrook was the better player, even if it was only for a single game.

Rose will certainly have better nights than this one, but it’s scary to imagine that Westbrook might, too. Yet Rose will live in the spotlight due to declarations of his MVP candidacy and claims of an improved three-point shot, while Westbrook will be pegged as a mere sidecar rider. The hype around Rose is deserved — he’s a phenomenal talent, and this was not one of his finer nights — but to let Durant’s clout obscure Westbrook’s brilliance would be tragic.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans say rookie guard Frank Jackson won’t make his NBA debut this season after having follow-up surgery to remove residual scar tissue from earlier right foot operations.

The Pelicans say Jackson also received an injection in his foot.

The club says a specialist in New York handled Jackson’s latest procedure.

The Pelicans acquired the 6-foot-4 Jackson through a draft-night trade with the Charlotte Hornets, who selected the former Duke player with the first pick of the second round last summer.

Following the draft, the Pelicans signed Jackson to a three-year contract at the NBA minimum with two years guaranteed, but Jackson needed a second foot surgery last summer to address a setback following his initial surgery last May.

Anyone who watched the Thunder’s win over the Raptors Sunday afternoon in Toronto — especially the final few minutes — thought it was not referee Marc Davis and crew’s finest hour. There were missed calls and three-straight ejections of Raptors players, which all seemed rather hair-trigger (especially coach Dwane Casey, who was tossed for something a fan behind him said).

According to the report, there was only one missed call in the final two minutes: Carmelo Anthony held Pascal Siakam as a pass came to him with 11.7 seconds left, and that should have been called.

What about the play that set DeMar DeRozan off and ultimately got him ejected, the drive to the basket with 33 seconds left (and the Raptors down two) where DeRozan thought Corey Brewer fouled him? The report said that was a good no call:

DeRozan (TOR) starts his drive and Brewer (OKC) moves laterally in his path and there is contact. The contact is incidental as both players attempt to perform normal basketball moves….

RHH shows Brewer (OKC) make contact with the ball and the part of DeRozan’s (TOR) hand that is on the ball. The hand is considered “part of the ball” when it is in contact with the ball and therefore, contact on that part of the hand by a defender while it is in contact with the ball is not illegal.

(I didn’t see it that way, I think the contact was more than incidental, and to me looking at the replay Brewer catches some wrist and impedes the shot in a way that was not legal. Just my two cents.)

The report does not cover the ejections, which are reviewed by league operations but not part of this report.

Three thoughts out of all this:

1) Raptors fans/management/players have every right to feel the calls went against them in this game. As for calls always going against them — as DeRozan complained about after the game — 29 other teams and fan bases are convinced the officials have it out for them, too. I never bought that.

2) The Raptors didn’t lose this game solely because of the officiating. Russell Westbrook was clutch down the stretch, the Thunder were part of it, and the Raptors had other issues, too (Serge Ibaka had a rough game, for example).

3) This loss also does not say a thing about the Raptors in the postseason (even if they went a little too much isolation at the end) — this was their third game in four days, they looked tired and flat at the end. That will not be the case in the playoffs.

Butler is chomping at the bit to return from his knee injury. He sat on the Timberwolves’ bench during their loss to the Rockets last night wearing what appeared to be typical attire for a sidelined player. But dig deeper, and…

Marc Stein of The New York Times:

There's only one @JimmyButler (Exhibit Infinity): Butler sat on the Wolves' bench last night for the first time since his recent injury and word is he wore a distinctly Jimmy item under his blazer and t-shirt … his game jersey